Are you staring at your brand’s website, wondering why it needs so many words? Do you question why you can’t just have a website with imagery instead?
While imagery plays a powerful role on a website, website copy is just as important. Brands shouldn’t abandon copy in the pursuit of aesthetics.
Forge Apollo provides website design and website copywriting services from Philadelphia to the whole country. In this article, we’re breaking down why you need website copy and how to make it achieve your goals.
What is Website Copy?
Website copy is the written text on a website. This includes headings, paragraphs, taglines, button text, and more. “Copy” is a common term in the marketing industry for the written word.
Writing this content is referred to as “website copywriting,” and the person who writes it is referred to as a “copywriter.”
The Importance of Website Copy
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Google, and other search engines, need text to understand what you do and what you’re an authority on. Search engines understand websites by having robots called “crawlers” read the code of each page.
Crawlers are not human; they do not see what your page looks like. Instead, they “crawl” through the technical code of each page. So, they rely heavily on text to help them understand what each page is about.
SEO is also impacted by brand E-E-A-T and user interaction. Having high-quality written content on your website helps to establish E-E-A-T and positive user interaction.
Accessibility
In addition to crawlers, there are also humans who may not be able to read your site visually. Many people use accessibility tools, like screen readers, to read the text on a website out loud. When a website has very little text, people using these tools are unable to understand or navigate through it.
User Experience
People ultimately visit a website because they want information. A website without text does not provide much information and thus may provide a poor user experience.
In addition, many website visitors are not yet ready to contact you when they visit your website. Website copy tailored to different stages of the buyer’s journey can help move visitors closer to conversion.
Your website doesn’t have to be a wall of text, though. Let’s cover some best practices for creating engaging website copy.
Best Practices for Creating Website Copy
By following these website copywriting best practices, your brand can create website copy that is engaging, informative, and easy to digest.
- Use headings, subheadings, and bullets to break up content and make it skimmable
- Write audience and action-oriented CTAs (for example “get my guide” instead of “download”)
- Break up paragraphs into shorter passages
- Write at a 9th-grade reading level or below
- Create a well-defined brand voice
- Use AI for support instead of copywriting
Use Human Writers Instead of AI
If you want content that provides value and performs well, use humans to write it.
AI creates copy by synthesizing information that already exists. That means that when you use AI, you won’t get something that stands out from the competition or adds anything new to a conversation.
Plus, AI can often provide inaccurate information or a perspective that lacks real-world experience. Your unique perspective and experience are the strength of your brand. Don’t abandon that strength for the “efficiency” of AI.
How AI Can Support Human Writers
This doesn’t mean that writers need to completely avoid AI. It can be a helpful tool to support writers with the following and more.
- Help to generate ideas
- Identifying content gaps
- Generating outlines
- Fixing grammatical errors
- Identifying issues with flow
- Shortening content
Turn to the Professionals for Help
Your brand’s expertise is its strength, and that strength may not be writing. Luckily, Forge Apollo provides expert design and website copywriting services. An experienced copywriter in Philadelphia can bring your brand voice to life with website copy that accomplishes your goals. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
